Under the Indian Constitution water is primarily a State subject, but it is an increasingly important national concern in the context of: the judicial recognition of the right to water as a part of the fundamental right to life; the general perception of an imminent water crisis, and the dire and urgent need to conserve; the pollution of rivers and other water sources, turning rivers into sewers or poison and contaminating aquifers; the severe and intractable inter-use and inter-State conflicts; the
long-term environmental, ecological and social implications of projects to augment the availability of water for human use